Sunday, December 02, 2012

What's a deal breaker?

Alana Goodmantakes apart the argument that Israel's Friday announcement that it is constructing 3,000 housing units in 'east' Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria is a 'deal breaker' for the 'two-state solution.'

Whatever your thoughts on the settlements, this is hardly an
eye-for-an-eye retribution. It’s not an explicit violation of any
agreements by Israel. Compare that to the PA’s UN bid, which violates
article XXXI, sec. 7 of the Oslo accords, which states “Neither side
shall initiate or take any step that will change the status of the West
Bank and the Gaza Strip pending the outcome of the permanent status
negotiations.” (It’s not as if the PA was unaware of that — a member of
the Fatah Central Committee said earlier this month that the day after the vote, Oslo would be null and void).

Israel made concessions under Oslo that can’t be unmade. The PA,
which has been the beneficiary of these concessions, no longer wants to
stand by its own obligations. And what’s Israel’s response? Not to tear
up Oslo, not to try to collapse the PA, or block funds. But to resume
building in East Jerusalem, something that wasn’t considered an
insurmountable obstacle to talks until recently. You can argue the
construction is unhelpful, but how much does that matter when the PA is
openly flouting its signed agreements on one side and Hamas is shooting
missiles across the border on the other?

And, in a way, maybe this actually is necessary for a future
two-state agreement. How can the Israeli public be expected to agree to
painful concessions if its leaders won’t even hold the Palestinians to
account when past agreements are broken? The settlement construction is a
way for Israel to show there are penalties for violating agreements
while still staying within the boundaries of Oslo.

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About Me

I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-three years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 11 to 31 years and seven grandchildren. Three of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com